Why this matters
A site built without a plan becomes a dumping ground: a dozen half-finished pages and no clear path to contact you. Five pages cover what almost every visitor wants, what you do, whether you're credible, and how to reach you.
What "done" looks like
- A one-line purpose written for each page: Home, Services, About, Proof, Contact
- Each page has one primary action (call, book, buy, ask)
- You know what content is missing and who's producing it
- Navigation is drafted: five items, no dropdowns needed
How to do it
- Start with Home. Its job is routing: say who you help, then send visitors to Services or Contact.
- Write Services around problems. One section per service with a plain description, what's included, and a starting price or honest "from" range if you can publish one.
- Draft About for trust, not biography. Why you started, licenses and credentials, a real photo.
- Build Proof. Testimonials, before-and-after photos, portfolio pieces, reviews, whatever your trade actually produces.
- Design Contact for action. Phone, a short form, address with map, hours.
- Sketch each page on paper before touching the platform, headings and bullets are enough.
Common mistakes
- Writing About as a life story instead of an answer to "can I trust this person?"
- Hiding all prices behind "contact for quote" when a range would pre-qualify buyers
- Launching with a blog that dies after two posts
Real-world examples
- Google's search quality rater guidelines describe clear business and contact information as supporting transparency when evaluating sites, a documented reason Contact can't be an afterthought.
- The common local-service visit pattern is Home to Services to Contact. Proof pages showing real completed work are generally more credible than generic claims.
From a founder's point of view
Five finished pages beat fifteen planned ones. Every page is either moving a stranger toward contacting the business or it's decoration, and decoration still has to be maintained.
Rule of thumb
If a stranger can't learn what you do, whether you're good, and how to reach you in three clicks, the plan isn't done.
